Olympian Rounds Into 1,500-meter Form

WILLIAMSBURG — Jerry Deegan tells an interesting story of how he "accidentally" got Olympic gold medalist Peter Rono to run track at Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Md.

It all started three years ago when University of Richmond track coach Fred Hardy retired and the university dropped the scholarships of Charles and Kip Chariot, budding brother track stars from Kenya.

Deegan, the track coach at Mt. St. Mary's, is a good friend of Hardy's and asked him where the Chariots were going to attend school. Hardy said he would send them to Emmitsburg.

Deegan then found out that Rono, a native Kenyan making a name for himself on the junior track circuit, was going to attend school wherever his best friend Charles was going. Deegan acted quickly.

"I sent him an application and a catalogue in the mail," said Deegan. "He applied, showed up and I ended up with an Olympic champion two years later. It's amazing."

Rono won his gold medal in the 1,500 meter event at the Seoul Olympics with a time of 3:55.96.

Saturday, fans and athletes alike braved the chilly weather on the final day of the Colonial Relays at William and Mary's Cary Field and watched Rono help lead his team to the sprint medley relay championship over Lincoln (3:21.80) and C.W. Post (3:22.18) with a time of 3:21.26.

Rono curiously didn't run in his specialty, which is what most of the fans came to see. But he said he is a little rusty and hasn't run the 1,500 since early in the indoor track season.

"I'm not really ready for the 1,500 meters right now," Rono said. "I still need some speed and I figured by running the anchor leg of the relay, it would give me some of that speed."

Rono's 800 meter anchor leg was clocked at 1:50.4. The Olympian led for most of his leg, relinquishing the lead but only for a brief few seconds before he kicked in for his final lap. He was never challenged during that last lap.

"The last 20 meters he was just striding," said Deegan. "He ran fast enough to win - that's the bottom line. He slowed down with 10 meters to go to the finish line, looked back and then just cruised in."

Rono said he and his teammmates - Todd Steel, Malcolm Poole and Dave Lishebo, weren't running for time, they just wanted to win.

"All we wanted to do was win this one," he said. "We did what we wanted and we are real happy about that."

The Olympian, who was only in Williamsburg for the final day of the three-day event, said another reason he didn't turn on all cylinders was because of the cool weather. The temperature was in the lower 50s by the time his team ran.

After his run, Rono reflected on warmer days in Seoul, when he stood perched atop the middle pedestal, a gold medal draped around his neck.

"The Olympics were really a tough competition," Rono said. "I'm proud of myself because I achieved what I wanted, what I had been striving for since I was a child."

And with the next Olympic games still a few years off, what's next for the 21-year-old runner?

"Right now my aim is to compete in the Commonwealth Games (in New Zealand) next January," he said. "I would like to run well and maybe even win there. After that, I will take it step by step."